A Statement On the Upcoming Election

This one goes out to all those I have seen recently who have been stating that they will not vote for the "lesser of two evils". That they will "follow their conscience" and throw their support to a candidate that cannot, and will not, win the Presidency.

I, too, plan to vote my conscience this coming election. In the twenty-eight years I've been casting a vote in Presidential elections, I have only voted major party twice - for Dukakis in my first, and for Obama in my last. Every other vote I've cast, every single one, has been for a third-party candidate.

Not this time.

There is currently one Supreme Court vacancy. There will absolutely be at least one other, and perhaps more, over the next few years. And put simply, I categorically refuse to allow any Republican the opportunity to appoint, and sit, a judge who will not uphold the current laws as outlined in Roe v Wade at a bare minimum. Lest you forget, RvW already has restrictions on late-term abortions. Not once have I seen HRC state a position on the subject that in any way implies that she is willing to extend the restrictions already in place. Nor do I believe she will nominate a judge who will.

I've also seen a fair amount of accusations about those who rely on their privilege to justify their decision to throw their vote away... and make no mistake, it will be a throw-away vote, accomplishing exactly nothing. As much as I hate the system we currently live under, that hatred does not change the simple fact that there are not even close to enough voters out there to make any third-party candidate electable. But again... your right, one I myself utilized for decades. Have at it.

But as far as those accusations of privilege go... every one of you deserves to be called out, hard, for the actions you take that are, absolutely, based upon your certainty that any adverse consequences will not affect you in any major way. It won't be your head on the chopping block, you tell yourself - and as long as you can be fairly confident that you will walk away with nothing more than a few bumps and bruises, it's all good.

I don't have that luxury. I haven't had that luxury since the day I lay on a delivery table, bleeding out, defibrillator paddles slapped to my chest to restart my stopped heart. Not since the day my fatally deformed daughter was delivered dead on arrival, and nearly took me with her.

Because of exactly those people who stand to make those vital appointments to our Supreme Court, who fully intend to alter the makeup enough to further tighten the restrictions that already have enough power to allow a hospital to neglect my care in favor of "saving" a fetus who could not, in any world, be saved.

No, I do not have your privilege. I bled and died for the principles I stand for now. I cannot, in good conscience, allow a single, solitary human being to risk what I did. And for the record, that includes those commenting who, by virtue of their innate biology, do risk that situation, whether they are willing to believe it or not.

I'm not going to waste my time begging you to change your minds. You have every right to vote however you choose, and that includes throwing your vote away for the satisfaction of throwing a big middle finger to the establishment. Enjoy it... no one knows better than I what a wonderful feeling it is, for those few short moments. And quite honestly, I'm really not that worried about your votes anyway. I don't actually believe you make a significant enough percentage to have any real bearing on the outcome of this election.

I, however, will vote my conscience. And if I'm wrong, if it's you who tip the balance and put people in office who stack the courts, and cause the preventable deaths of wives and mothers by the tens of thousands over the next twenty, thirty, forty years...

I will be the one with the clear conscience. It won't be of much consolation, as I mourn those who pay for your intransigence...

But it will be at least one straw I can cling to, and for me, that's enough.